TIMES OF INDIA
Thursday 28 august 20083 terrorists killed as hostage drama ends
Militants Killed 5 Before Holing Up In House, Taking 6 Hostages
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Jammu: As dusk fell, the generators were brought in and the floodlights lit. Bullets had stopped flying, but the killer was still holed in, the barrel of the fidayeen’s Kalashnikov trained on a woman and four children, one of them a three-year-old. Two of his fellow terrorists had fallen, but the lone fidayeen was holding out, using the children as shields.
Eighteen hours after it began, all three terrorists had been gunned
down by soldiers of the Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry, who had dug in for a fight, if necessary until morning — their mission: get the killer-fidayeen but save the little lives. Past midnight, Jammu senior superintendent of police Manohar Singh confirmed that all three fidayeen had been killed but said the fate of the hostages was not known. One TV channel, however, said that the children were safe.
This is the first time in six years that there has been a terror attack in Jammu city. It comes at a time when sharp differences have divided the Kashmir valley and Jammu. The fidayeen attack on Wednesday is obviously aimed at deepening this divide. The terrorists had crossed the border on Tuesday after cutting through the multi-layered barbed wire fence. More could have crossed the border, which means they are still on the prowl.
The attack came in an outlying locality of Jammu, Chinore, early in the morning. By night, the terrorists had turned their bloody intent into a daylong hostage drama. Three of them, masquerading as policemen and armed with AK-47 rifles and grenades, took six people, including four children, hostage in the morning and were locked in a fierce gunbattle after being holed up in a yellow, two-storey home.
FIDAYEEN FOILED
A group of terrorists cross into J&K on Tuesday from Kanachak sector of Pak border. Cops suspect they may have been targeting Amarnath protest rally
On Wednesday morning, three of the terrorists intercepted at the police checkpost of Chinore, about 20 km from Jammu
The militants, dressed in police uniforms and carrying AK-47 assault rifles, shoot dead an army JCO and seize a three-wheeler
They throw a grenade and fire indiscriminately, killing a milkman, a motorcyclist & a soldier on holiday, before killing the auto driver
Enter a house in Chinore, take six people — 4 children, their mother and a visitor — hostage
Police, army and CRPF begin joint operation. Neighbourhood evacuated
Security personnel surround house. Take up position on roof, facing house and fields in the rear
One terrorist killed as he steps out, guns blazing, around noon
Second killed in the evening
Last militant repeatedly changes hostages’ position. Army storms house in three-pronged attack from door, window & roof. Militant killed Siege second major attack in Jammu in three months
Jammu: The first of the three terrorists who had holed up in a house in the Chinore suburb of Jammu on Wednesday was brought down by a sharp burst of bullets as he stepped out to look around. The remaining two fidayeen resorted to intermittent firing throughout the day, taking care to conserve their ammunition, even as Army officers chalked out strategies to neutralize them without harming the civilians. By 7pm, another terrorist had been shot dead.
Around 5.30am, the terrorists, who had sneaked into India from across the border near Kanachak sector in Akhnoor, about 20km from Jammu, on Tuesday, riding a goods carrier fired at an Army checkpost in the Domana-Mishriwala area. Junior commissioned officer V V Prakashan of 6 Madras was hit. He later succumbed to his injuries.
The infiltrators then hijacked a three-wheeler, fired indiscriminately, killing the auto driver, local milkman Shabir Hussain, a motorcyclist Nasib Singh and another Armyman Vijay Kumar, posted in Jaipur, who had come home on leave. Some locals traveling on motorbikes and a policeman were also fired at and injured.
The terrorists took shelter in the house of Billu Ram. His entire family — wife Sunita Devi, 35, children Sheetal 9, Arishal 7, Kajal 4, Vipan 3 — was trapped along with the terrorists. A visitor, Ashok Kumar (27), was also with them. Billu Ram was not at his home because he was being treated for a snake bite in hospital.
IGP (Jammu Zone) K Rajendra said that the terrorists were suspected to be the same infiltrators who had cut through the concertina wires on the border. They had taken advantage of the cover fire provided by Pakistani troops. ‘‘A high alert has been sounded in Jammu due to the terrorist infiltration from across the border,’’ he said.
Army personnel had taken positions on rooftops of adjoining houses in the densely populated Chinore, located on a hillock. Locals staying in nearby homes were evacuated. People were asked not to step out of their homes in the city.
Grenade explosions and gunshots could be heard in the area throughout the day as the building where the militants were hiding was pockmarked with bullet holes. By evening, floodlights too had been installed as the Army got ready for the long haul.
Meanwhile, Amarnath Yatra Sangarsh Samiti, the group spearheading the stir for transfer of land to the Amarnath shrine board, called off its rally in the wake of the terrorist attack as ear gripped the city. ‘‘The rally has been cancelled based on the request of the authorities in view of infiltration of militants and their attacks on the outskirts of the city in which some people were killed,’’ Shri Amarnath Yatra Sangarsh Samiti leader Naresh Padha said.
The militant attack came as the Centre rushed about 1,200 additional Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel to Jammu to assist the local security forces in maintaining law and order.
This is the second major gunbattle in the Jammu region in less than three and a half months. Six people were killed in Samba town, 40km south-west of Jammu, on May 11. Terrorists had infiltrated from across the nternational border in Samba sector on May 8 before surfacing on May 11 morning. Three militants were killed in that gunfight.
However, this is the first attack on Jammu city in six years. Back on March 30, 2002, at least nine people, including two terrorists, were killed when fidayeen had stormed the Raghunath temple.
Army jawans pull the body of the second militant
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Coming: Massive evacuation in Kosi-hit areas
Over 20 Lakh People To Be Moved
Ashish Sinha | TNN
New Delhi: The fury of Kosi, which struck east Bihar with a vengeance last Monday, may trigger one of the world’s biggest human evacuations ever. The exodus should continue over the next several weeks with the scared population spread over six districts finally veering round to timely escape as the only option.
By now, almost one lakh marooned people have moved to safe highlands, bulk of them by government boats and many on their own. The reluctant trickle is now taking the shape of a torrent after an emotional appeal by chief minister Nitish Kumar, urging people to cut their losses and leave with their cattle. At the time of reporting, over 10,000 people had beseeched the administration officials in Madhepura to take them to safety — a reversal of sorts since 24 hours ago, all the nudging could not make them leave their ‘‘ghar’’.
More such scenes could be witnessed in the next 48 hours if heavy rain, as forecast by the Met office, pelts the area, adding to the huge volumes of water gushing down from Nepal towards the plains of the ill-fated Bihar districts.
The deluge has, at any rate, presented a gigantic task of moving over 20 lakh people to protected zones.
By Friday, the government expects to deploy 900 boats — motorised and manual — for evacuation work. At an average of 100 people per boat, the daily shift could shoot to 90,000. The number of people voluntarily finding their way to safety will also continue to rise because they are slowly realizing that the worst of the Kosi crisis may not yet be over. PM, Sonia to visit flood-hit areas
New Delhi: The first impact of the worsening weather was felt on Wednesday as the three relief helicopters — lifeline for the thousands marooned by Kosi—could do just two sorties.
Nitish, who met the PM, said the government’s worst fear was the chance of excess rainfall in the river’s Nepal catchment areas as that could take the newcourse outflow to threatening levels. The river is already threatening to swallow new areas in the affected districts. Manmohan Singh, Sonia Gandhi and Union home minister Shivraj Patil will do an aerial survey of the affected region on Thursday. The marauding Kosi is already flowing over a 13km-wide stretch and an additional water volume of several thousand cusecs can increase its span up to 30 km, engulfing more and more villages.
Besides evacuation, putting close to 2 million people in relief camps is the biggest challenge that the state is facing in the disaster zones. With the number of public buildings like schools and colleges being limited, the thrust is now on getting thousands of tents and bamboos to erect them where the people can be housed.
Faced with the gigantic challenge, the state government has been forced even to defy the engineers’ advice not to attempt to bridge the breach before the river turns stable. Nitish said he was raring to start making that attempt with porcupine boulders. ‘‘The goal is to force the Kosi to revert to its original course,’’ he said. Reports from the affected areas said relief operations were still having very little impact.
‘‘We do not really contest that, but we are confident that our round-the-clock work will improve the situation,’’ a Bihar disaster management official said.
CURSE OF KOSI: Flood victims wait for help near Purnia
‘Sick’ airhostesses get strong medicine
Saurabh Sinha | TNN
New Delhi: Going on sick leave to protest disparity of pay with their seniors has cost the Maharaja’s young and fighting fit airhostesses dear. Air India despatched its doctors to check on these airhostesses at home and promptly suspended those who did not get admitted to hospital for check-up or treatment or left their houses locked.
While the protesting airhostesses say up to 10 of them have been suspended, an airline spokesperson confirmed action had been taken against four till Wednesday afternoon for ‘‘dereliction of duty’’.
The airhostesses had resorted to the protest leave, contending that young cabin crew members get about Rs 28,000 per month while seniors can get up to Rs 1 lakh. Following the sudden sick leaves, AI was forced to recall even airhostesses grounded for reasons like being overweight, to maintain flight schedules.
One suspended airhostess is ‘‘recuperating’’ in Bangalore and others are learned to be in Delhi. The suspension letters of two Delhi-based crew members show that the merged Air India-Indian Airlines entity, National Aviation Company of India Ltd, is cracking the whip on protesting airhostesses. Air hostesses upset over doctor visit
New Delhi: Air India has despatched its doctors at home’s to check on airhostesses going on sick leave to protest pay disparity and promptly suspending those who did not get admitted to hospital for check-up.
Sample this. The suspension letter of one of the air hostesses, who was rostered to fly IC 821 Delhi-Jammu flight last Sunday but reported sick reads: ‘‘On Monday, a National Aviation Company of India Ltd (NACIL) doctor was sent to your residence for your check-up. You were advised to get admitted immediately at Mata Chanan Devi Hospital. However, on inquiry from hospital it was found that till 5.30pm on Tuesday, you had not got yourself admitted as advised which clearly indicates that you were not sick and on the contrary you feigned sickness with intention to not operate the flight, thereby disrupting flight schedules.’
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First Nanos from Pantnagar?
Pankaj Doval | TIMES NEWS NETWORK
New Delhi: Tata Motors appears to have started working on a Plan B for the Nano. It is gearing up to roll out a couple of thousand units a month from its Pantnagar plant in Uttarakhand, according to vendor sources.
This may help the Tatas to meet the October deadline for Nano’s launch, despite the ongoing trouble at its plant at Singur in West Bengal.
Highly placed sources told TOI that the company is planning to produce around 100 units a day at its plant in Uttarakhand, a state that not only offers lucrative tax breaks but also has many of Tata Motors’ key vendors.
“The company has plans to produce about 3,000 units a month in Uttarakhand. While the figure is relatively low keeping in mind the company’s overall production targets, it would certainly help them meet the October deadline if the turmoil at Singur continues,” a source said. The company had earlier said that it would go in for multiple locations for manufacturing the Rs 1 lakh car.
When asked, a company spokesperson said: “Tata Motors maintains that Singur would be the first and mother plant for Nano.” However, he refused to comment specifically on other manufacturing locations.
Vendors are now gearing up to meet the company’s call to supply material at its Uttarakhand plant. “Our material has already gone to them,” a key vendor said on condition of anonymity.
Mukesh backs Tatas
Reliance Industries CMD Mukesh Ambani on Wednesday came out in support of Tata Motors, saying, “The Nano project is a unique... initiative which will establish India’s position as a small car hub. The Indian industry must be encouraged to make such large investments...” P 25
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DPS student jumps to death in hostel
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
New Delhi: A 15-year-old student of Class XI in Delhi Public School, R K Puram, fell to her death from the fifth floor of her school hostel, in mysterious circumstances, on Wednesday afternoon. She died of head injuries at Holy Angels Hospital. Identified as Pushpanjali Raj, she was a new student admitted to the science (non-medical) section of Class XI-C when the new academic year began.
According to principal Shyama Chona, the school authorities rushed the girl to hospital between 4pm and 4.15pm. On the way, she died of her injuries, said Dr D N Anand of the Holy Angels hospital.
The hostel warden, Rajbala, told reporters she had seen Pushpanjali around 2.30pm when she marked attendance. ‘‘She had lunch and after that, she had gone to change her uniform,’’ Rajbala said. ‘‘She didn’t seem to be tense.’’
According to the principal, at about 3.15 pm, the girl went to the fifth floor bathroom and locked it. She is then said to have cut the wire mesh of the window and jumped out. Cops to wait for autopsy report To Lodge Case Later But Do Not Rule Out Foul Play, No Suicide Note
New Delhi: A 15-year-old student of Class XI in Delhi Public School, R K Puram, fell to her death from the fifth floor of her school hostel, in mysterious circumstances, on Wednesday afternoon. The residents of the hostel, including the warden, discovered body of Pushpanjali Raj lying on the ground soon after. The principal was informed at 3.50pm, sources said.
‘‘She was a good student and a happy child, we grieve her death,’’ said Chona. She denied the girl had any problem with other students.
A senior police officer said they would lodge a case only after the postmortem report revealed something conclusive. ‘‘We are not ruling out foul play. The victim’s parents have been informed. We will also wait for them to throw some light on the incident,’’ he said.
Pushpanjali’s hostel room (number 504), which was in a disarray, has been sealed. Sources in the police claimed that they have found no suicide note from the spot. The cops are speaking to the victim’s friends and roommates — she was sharing the room with five girls, claimed her local guardian — to find out whether she was depressed. ‘‘We have preserved her body at Safdarjung Hospital and are waiting for her parents to arrive,’’ said a senior cop.
Pushpanjali’s local guardian, Durgesh Pandey, said she was ‘‘a mazboot ladki’’ (strong girl) and that he was shocked at the turn of events. ‘‘She was a good student and had performed well in her Class 10 exams.’’
She had completed her Boards from Deoghar at Hazaribagh district in Jharkhand. Her father, Shiv Narayan Raj, heads a cooperative society in Jharkhand. She has two brothers.
‘‘She was very keen on doing engineering and was also taking special coaching,’’ said Pandey. ‘‘She had shown no signs of depression. However, we couldn’t keep in touch with her all the time as mobiles are not allowed within the hostel. She told us that she shared the room with five girls.’’
Her elder brother, who works in Hyderabad, had come down to meet her a few days ago and had found her in good spirits.
Outside the school, anxious local guardians were waiting to talk to their wards. Said one of them: ‘‘A young relative is studying here and my wife has gone in to give her emotional support. I am sure the students are shaken by the incident and need our support.’’
Guardian’s doubts
New Delhi: The local guardian of Pushpanjali Raj, Durgesh Pandey, has demanded a thorough investigation into her death. ‘‘She wasn’t someone who would commit suicide,’’ he said.
‘‘She was short of height, so it is hard to imagine that she cut the wires of the bathroom window and jumped from there. It needs to be investigated.’’ IANS
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Delhi TimesBEIJING MEIN B’WOOD DHOOM
Farah Khan says that a song from OSObeing used by Israeli gymnasts in the Beijing Olympics was not the first time it was used internationally. It’s also featured on a US TV show
MANDVI SHARMA Times News Network
Of course, there’s Bindra, Vijender and Sushil Kumar, but the Indian flavour at the Beijing Olympics wasn’t restricted to that. The Israeli rhythmic gymnastics team used the Dhoom Tana number from Om Shanti Om for their routine. They didn’t win the gold, but it did give a fillip to Bollywood’s popularity abroad.
However, Farah Khan, the director of OSO, says it’s not the first time that the song has been used internationally, but she’s very happy – because OSO is generating good news after a long time! “Yes, for a change, it’s good news about OSO,” she says. “I missed it both times it came on TV.” The song runs for three minutes during the Israeli team’s routine, with the tempo building up towards the end, to culminate in a formation by the Israeli girls. The team placed sixth in the event, in which Russia claimed gold, China got silver and Belarus got the bronze medal.
Farah says that this isn’t the first time that the song has been used globally. “The song was played on an American show called So You Think You Can Dance?. An American couple, Katee and Joshua, danced to it and the video is on the internet. It is good to see that Indian movies have a wide reach and audience,” she says.
Vishal Dadlani, the music composer for the movie, says, “When we make music, we always hope that it reaches every corner of the world – at least all the Indians across the
globe. But it is a matter of pride when other cultures like your songs and give them due respect. And I am speaking for the entire Indian music industry and not just for Shekhar or myself. More than anything else in the world, I am glad we made Farah proud!”
mandvi.sharma@timesgroup.com
Farah Khan
A still from Dhoom Tana
A video grab from So You Think You Can Dance, with Katee & Joshua dancing to Dhoom Tana
The Israeli team in action in Beijing
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DEEPALI DHINGRA Times News Network
How often have you seen a woman getting raped in a Hindi film? Can’t keep count, right? But a man getting raped in a Hindi film? Or a man prostituting himself ? Never, because male sexuality is a topic which has remained under the carpet. Thankfully cinema, like time, is changing, and three new-age directors are making their debuts with films which discuss topics like male prostitution, rape and sexual identity crisis.
Manish Gupta, who’s written four hard-hitting scripts for Ram Gopal Varma, is ready with his Hostel. This is no romantic college caper – the film deals with the bold subject of rape, that too of a male student. “I studied in an engineering college where I met a guy who was raped in the hostel,” recalls Manish. “When I asked him if that was true, the expression on his face was like somebody had died.” For his debut film, Manish could think of no better subject than this. “I’ve blatantly shown all this and the censors have passed it,” he says. A safer subject
would have been easier to handle. “But safe directors are a dime a dozen. Every film can’t be about loving your family,” says Manish.
Saurabh Sengupta’s It’s a Man’s World is equally stark, about male prostitution. Why this subject? “There have been many films made on female sex workers but nothing on men,” explains Saurabh. When he started work on the script, he wanted it to be a shocking film, “but when I started interacting with male sex workers, I realised their fears and problems.” When people see his film, they will be shocked, but he hopes to be able to convey the human side of male prostitution, he says.
Sudipto Chattopadhyay’s Pankh, on the other hand, deals with the sexual identity of a man and is set against the backdrop of the film industry. A small boy who plays a girl in Hindi films grows up to deal with an identity crisis. “The young man is caught in a psychological matrix of gender confusion that has been imposed on him by his social circumstance,” says Sudipto.
All these directors have one agenda, to make the audience aware that these things happen. “My film is supposed to shock people into thinking ‘This has to be stopped’,” says Manish.
delhitimes@timesgroup.com
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JYOTHI PRABHAKAR Times News Network
Finally the truth is coming out,” says Sanjana Jon. Her brother, designer Anand Jon, in prison in the US on several charges of rape and battery, among other things, is making headlines again – because 30 charges of rape against him have been dropped and 10 prosecution witnesses withdrawn just before his trial, which begins on September 3. “This is what we have been saying from the beginning. Let the truth talk,” says Sanjana, on the phone from the US. “More than me or anyone else saying it, the media here – there’s a article by investigative journalist Sharon Waxman… She went through eight volumes of what the grand jury said, and her final statement is that ‘it defies logic’. Did the prosecution not read all that she had before filing a case? They did not even understand the case.”
Sanjana says that while she and her mother have been campaigning for Anand’s release, they had no idea of the details of jail life that Anand has written about in his letter to Waxman. “Anand had written a letter to her from jail. And when I read it –you don’t know what I went through.
Because he never told me or anyone else in our family anything about what he had to face in jail everyday. And here it was – the inhumanity of it all,” she says.
Besides the charges that have been dropped, it has also been revealed that the officer investigating Anand’s case had concealed evidence. “Last week, the detective investigating Anand’s case – Elwell – admitted on the stand to having destroyed evidence. How can there be a fair trial if someone has destroyed evidence? For one year, he hid attorney-client privileged material. How can he do it? What was he thinking? It’s unimaginable that such a thing can happen here. They never had to prove anything happened. They got together, accused Anand and put him behind bars. They never gave him a chance to defend himself. Now, after a year and a half, the truth is coming out – little by little, slowly but surely, the truth is coming out,” says Sanjana emphatically.
She also says there are other discrepancies in the case. “Ten of the complaining witnesses are gone, from what we understand at this point. And 30 counts of rape have also been dropped. Today is the official filing of this. (The charges made by) All those girls – who said it happened in New York and then came over to LA to say it happened in LA – all those have been dropped. When you think of it, when it’s dropped in LA, how’s it holding in New York?” she asks. “You’ve already kept a man behind bars for a year and a half without evidence – in inhuman circumstances you can’t even imagine. People are quick to judge, quick to turn their back. And it took us over a year – screaming ourselves blue to say please look into this, listen to us. When I had come to India, the support that I got there is what kept me strong, kept me going. That’s when people began to realise that there’s more to this than meets the eye. The trial is to begin on September 3. Almost on the eve of the trial, the prosecution has dropped almost half the charges, and half the people. Anand cannot be victimised like this. Can they give him back one day of his life after this? I want Anand to prove his innocence and come back home.”
Excerpts from
Anand Jon’s letter
to Sharon Waxman,
a US journalist
“I have not seen the sky in months - six, maybe seven. Kind of easy to lose track of time and yet be unbearably aware of its existence. I am awakened at around 5.30 am usually and on court days about 4.30 am and then remain in shackles while being “sergeant-escorted” to a tiny moving metal vertical coffin in a van and transported underground to the downtown court.
The time in front of the judge is the only time I am not in shackles and handcuffed. The wait in the holding tanks, usually 3 feet by 7 feet high, is among those disorienting experiences that are carved into your sensory memory, some days as long as 18 hours, surrounded in filth of both indefinable and unidentifiable sources.
Welcome to the strangest episode of my blessed life as I near one year in LA County jail. There is a possibility I may not survive this ordeal. The threats against me escalated over the first five months, and it got so bad that my food was being kicked around and there were all-night howling sessions...
Yoga, meditation, and the love of my family and God have sustained me as I grapple with blankets that have blood stains dried in tie-dyed patterns and battle nocturnal visits from entities that include, but are not limited to, rodents and insects. How much of it is my imagination? I’m not really sure. But the whole thing feels like a Stephen King novel turned into a movie directed by M Night Shyamalan.”
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Yes, men are getting raped in films
Three directors make debuts with films on male rape, prostitution and gender confusion
DEEPALI DHINGRA Times News Network
How often have you seen a woman getting raped in a Hindi film? Can’t keep count, right? But a man getting raped in a Hindi film? Or a man prostituting himself ? Never, because male sexuality is a topic which has remained under the carpet. Thankfully cinema, like time, is changing, and three new-age directors are making their debuts with films which discuss topics like male prostitution, rape and sexual identity crisis.
Manish Gupta, who’s written four hard-hitting scripts for Ram Gopal Varma, is ready with his Hostel. This is no romantic college caper – the film deals with the bold subject of rape, that too of a male student. “I studied in an engineering college where I met a guy who was raped in the hostel,” recalls Manish. “When I asked him if that was true, the expression on his face was like somebody had died.” For his debut film, Manish could think of no better subject than this. “I’ve blatantly shown all this and the censors have passed it,” he says. A safer subject
would have been easier to handle. “But safe directors are a dime a dozen. Every film can’t be about loving your family,” says Manish.
Saurabh Sengupta’s It’s a Man’s World is equally stark, about male prostitution. Why this subject? “There have been many films made on female sex workers but nothing on men,” explains Saurabh. When he started work on the script, he wanted it to be a shocking film, “but when I started interacting with male sex workers, I realised their fears and problems.” When people see his film, they will be shocked, but he hopes to be able to convey the human side of male prostitution, he says.
Sudipto Chattopadhyay’s Pankh, on the other hand, deals with the sexual identity of a man and is set against the backdrop of the film industry. A small boy who plays a girl in Hindi films grows up to deal with an identity crisis. “The young man is caught in a psychological matrix of gender confusion that has been imposed on him by his social circumstance,” says Sudipto.
All these directors have one agenda, to make the audience aware that these things happen. “My film is supposed to shock people into thinking ‘This has to be stopped’,” says Manish.
delhitimes@timesgroup.com
A still from Hostel
A still from Pankh
A still from It’s A Man’s World
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‘The truth is coming out’
Sanjana Jon, the sister of designer Anand Jon who is in jail in the US on charges of rape, says that the dropping of multiple charges against her brother ahead of his trial is a vindication of their stand
JYOTHI PRABHAKAR Times News Network
Finally the truth is coming out,” says Sanjana Jon. Her brother, designer Anand Jon, in prison in the US on several charges of rape and battery, among other things, is making headlines again – because 30 charges of rape against him have been dropped and 10 prosecution witnesses withdrawn just before his trial, which begins on September 3. “This is what we have been saying from the beginning. Let the truth talk,” says Sanjana, on the phone from the US. “More than me or anyone else saying it, the media here – there’s a article by investigative journalist Sharon Waxman… She went through eight volumes of what the grand jury said, and her final statement is that ‘it defies logic’. Did the prosecution not read all that she had before filing a case? They did not even understand the case.”
Sanjana says that while she and her mother have been campaigning for Anand’s release, they had no idea of the details of jail life that Anand has written about in his letter to Waxman. “Anand had written a letter to her from jail. And when I read it –you don’t know what I went through.
Because he never told me or anyone else in our family anything about what he had to face in jail everyday. And here it was – the inhumanity of it all,” she says.
Besides the charges that have been dropped, it has also been revealed that the officer investigating Anand’s case had concealed evidence. “Last week, the detective investigating Anand’s case – Elwell – admitted on the stand to having destroyed evidence. How can there be a fair trial if someone has destroyed evidence? For one year, he hid attorney-client privileged material. How can he do it? What was he thinking? It’s unimaginable that such a thing can happen here. They never had to prove anything happened. They got together, accused Anand and put him behind bars. They never gave him a chance to defend himself. Now, after a year and a half, the truth is coming out – little by little, slowly but surely, the truth is coming out,” says Sanjana emphatically.
She also says there are other discrepancies in the case. “Ten of the complaining witnesses are gone, from what we understand at this point. And 30 counts of rape have also been dropped. Today is the official filing of this. (The charges made by) All those girls – who said it happened in New York and then came over to LA to say it happened in LA – all those have been dropped. When you think of it, when it’s dropped in LA, how’s it holding in New York?” she asks. “You’ve already kept a man behind bars for a year and a half without evidence – in inhuman circumstances you can’t even imagine. People are quick to judge, quick to turn their back. And it took us over a year – screaming ourselves blue to say please look into this, listen to us. When I had come to India, the support that I got there is what kept me strong, kept me going. That’s when people began to realise that there’s more to this than meets the eye. The trial is to begin on September 3. Almost on the eve of the trial, the prosecution has dropped almost half the charges, and half the people. Anand cannot be victimised like this. Can they give him back one day of his life after this? I want Anand to prove his innocence and come back home.”
Excerpts from
Anand Jon’s letter
to Sharon Waxman,
a US journalist
“I have not seen the sky in months - six, maybe seven. Kind of easy to lose track of time and yet be unbearably aware of its existence. I am awakened at around 5.30 am usually and on court days about 4.30 am and then remain in shackles while being “sergeant-escorted” to a tiny moving metal vertical coffin in a van and transported underground to the downtown court.
The time in front of the judge is the only time I am not in shackles and handcuffed. The wait in the holding tanks, usually 3 feet by 7 feet high, is among those disorienting experiences that are carved into your sensory memory, some days as long as 18 hours, surrounded in filth of both indefinable and unidentifiable sources.
Welcome to the strangest episode of my blessed life as I near one year in LA County jail. There is a possibility I may not survive this ordeal. The threats against me escalated over the first five months, and it got so bad that my food was being kicked around and there were all-night howling sessions...
Yoga, meditation, and the love of my family and God have sustained me as I grapple with blankets that have blood stains dried in tie-dyed patterns and battle nocturnal visits from entities that include, but are not limited to, rodents and insects. How much of it is my imagination? I’m not really sure. But the whole thing feels like a Stephen King novel turned into a movie directed by M Night Shyamalan.”
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